By Scott Ronalds

I was having dinner with my dad the other night and we got on the topic of credit cards. We both have cards that reward us with air miles (in one form or another) for all our purchases. And importantly, we both pay our cards off each month.

Somewhat proudly, he stated that one of his oldest cards is his gas card. I asked him what kind of rewards he got with the card. “None”, he replied. I then asked, “So why do you use it when you could be getting air miles if you use your credit card?” No response. After thinking about it for a while, he replied, “Bad habit, I guess; I’m just so used to it.” He felt shame, I topped up his wine and we got onto another topic.

Bad habits are hard to break, especially when they’ve become engrained in our behavior. Some companies have done a masterful job of developing products/services that change our behavior and deliver a superior experience. Think of Apple. The iPod has changed the way we purchase, store, transport and listen to music. Creating change isn’t easy, however, as we’re creatures of habit and tend to stick to what we’re familiar with.

At Steadyhand, we’re out to change behavior by breaking bad industry habits. The habit of paying a middleman to sell our funds. The habit of communicating in a manner that nobody can understand. The habit of wasting paper, money and time by mailing (rather than e-mailing) reporting materials. The habit of index-hugging. And the habit of poor transparency.

It’s a tough battle, but it’s a worthy one. I was reminded of this when I was leaving dinner and saw an iPod on my dad’s kitchen counter and a Steadyhand ball cap on the coat rack. This from a guy who not long ago was buying Kenny Rogers Live on cassette and whose favorite head gear had an RBC logo on it. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Kenny can rock a crowd.